‘Fire cloud’ looms over Bordeaux as ‘next 24hrs critical’ in battle to save city from wildfire that could last MONTHS

A TERRIFYING “fire cloud” is forming over Bordeaux with officials now facing a critical 24 hours to stop the flames spreading across France.

An incoming heatwave is expected to hit later this week with fire chiefs warning the surging temperatures could help fuel the fires and cause them to rage on for “several months”.

French Lieutenant-Colonel David Annotel warned the massive fire caused by the Gironde inferno “will last several weeks, or even several months” if it cannot be slowed down immediately.

Around 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and around 1,200 police officers have been deployed to the Gironde region to fight the flames.

France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez says the wildfires are a “never-before-seen situation” which are “far from over”.

He added that a chilling “fire cloud” has started to spread over Gironde and is now heading towards Bordeaux.

The unprecedented “pyrocumulonimbus” is a dangerous weather phenomenon that whips flames around its own winds and can strike and ignite even more fires.

Intense wildfires can reach temperatures above 800C and may be able to create their own weather system.

The most extreme cases can even see the winds generate fire tornadoes, made of flames and smoke.

Sebastien Berge, head of the Gironde firefighters’ union, warned of major concerns for Bordeaux due to the strength and speed of the current fires.

He said: “When there’s a fire of this magnitude, it creates its own weather pattern… it’s difficult to monitor.

“When you see how far it’s spreading, I think we can now be concerned about the city of Bordeaux.”

Bordeaux, famed for its wine-making, is the sixth largest city in France based on its entire metropolitan area where over 850,000 people live.

Over 42,000 hectares across southwestern France have now been scorched due to the wildfires.

At least 88 firefighters have been injured across France and two people have died.

It comes after Gironde firefighting Chief Eric Brocardi compared the battle to contain the inferno to a “David-versus-Goliath scenario”.

Officials say fire crews have been “overwhelmed” by the ferocity of the flames and remain “far from” bringing them under control.

Over 240 homes have been burnt to the ground with an estimated 220,000 people displaced and forced to live in shelters while the flames remain high.

A national emergency has been declared as firefighters fight against merging fires just outside Madrid.

Fires have burned 153,000 hectares this year in Spain with more than 116,000 people fleeing from the flames.

A new heatwave is also set to begin in Spain on Tuesday which could last until the end of the week, according to meteorological agency AEMET.

AEMET said temperatures may soar causing the fire risk to “surge to very high or extreme levels across almost the entire country”.

“This situation will persist, or may even worsen, in the following days,” it added.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez conceded there were “complex times ahead”.

Locals have taken to wearing masks as choking clouds of smoke drift across the region.

Rocío Domínguez, who fled with her dog Simba from the town of Chapinería 25 miles west of the Spanish capital, said: “It looked like the apocalypse.

“Everything was covered in ash.”